Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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r""Mn. .WEDNESDAY,MARCH 16, 2005 use 69, MIAMI 67 KATIE KIRKLAND/THE GAMECOCK Senior Carlos Powell, foreground, embraces sophomore Tre’ Kelley. USC’s men’s basketball team defeated the Miami Hurricanes 69-67 Tuesday night at the Colonial Center in the first round of the, NIT. For the full story see page 12. RHA to allow RA participation By KELLY CAVANAUGH ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR The Residence Hall Association has passed a constitutional amendment so live in University Housing staff members cannot be excluded from RHA activities, despite previous legislation excluding resident advisors from the student activity fee. The amendment will affect RAs, residence hall directors and residence life coordinators. RHA senator Mark Stone, a first-year finance student, said he and RHA president Adam Hark “teamed up” in favor of the amendment. Stone said the issue came up because members of RHA “saw a conflict of interest.” Before the amendment’s passage, RAs were barred from dorm events because they do not pay student activity fees. “For instance, say Preston had a pizza party. Technically they wouldn’t be allowed to come, because they don’t pay student activity fees,” Stone said. The RHA nicknamed the amendment the “Free Pizza Act,” he said, because they used pizza as an example when proposing the legislation. Stone emphasized the importance of student-RA interaction. “The RAs interacting with the students in any kind of event definitely promotes unity, and it’s just beneficial because people like to see the RAs getting involved,” Stone said. Stone said he is not sure how strictly the rule barring RAs from participation in hall activities would have been enforced had the initial legislation not been passed. He said “enforcement of the former rule varies by dorm, adding that there is a fairly high turnover of dorm governments each year. ♦ RHA, page 4 Students visit pen pals during break By MEGAN MOXIE THE GAMECOCK GRENOBLE, France — While some students took a spring break from school, USC’s French Communications and Culture class spent its break studying abroad. The yearlong course taught by assistant professor Lara Lomicka focuses on learning the French language by communicating directly with native speakers. Through weekly e-mails and chat sessions, Lomicka’s students have gotten to know their “key” pals, French students in Pascal Pfister’s high school English class. After spending a semester and a half discussing cultural issues, 11 USC students had the chance to experience the foreign culture firsthand in the small Alpine town of St. Jean de Maurienne. “Before meeting my ‘key’ pal, I was really nervous, but once I met her, I knew everything was going to be fine,” said Casey Ostien, a first-year French student. Students spent the first weekend with their French “key” pal and family. Most families took their USC guests to surrounding areas including Annecy, Chambery and Italy. Lomicka’s class shared American music with Madame Pfister’s English classes Tuesday. “It was really cute how excited they got when they knew a song we played,” said Susan Crook, a second-year math student. The American students participated in a scavenger hunt to learn the village’s layout before going sightseeing and shopping in Grenoble. Lomicka’s students said goodbye to their “key” pals early Friday as they boarded a train for Paris. The students not only experienced the ♦ FRANCE, page X f i f » USC to upgrade energy facilities By KEVIN FELLNER SENIOR WRITER As a result of rising energy costs, USC’s overworked energy facilities are undergoing a $33 million efficiency upgrade. Chief Financial Officer Rick Kelly estimated at the outset of the project that the university could save $2.5 million annually in utility costs and potentially raise $24 million by reinvesting the savings in public-lending institutions. USC received the funds for the initial technology upgrades from a low-interest loan through the state treasurer’s office. After the Board of Trustees approved an energy performance contract with Johnson Controls Inc. in February 2004, an evaluation team recommended cost saving procedures for campus buildings, like using lights that require lower wattage than previous models or cooling unit pipes that conserve more water. Administrators estimate the project will be complete before the end of the year and that all improvements can be paid off with utility savings in about 14 years. “This plan won’t determine when lights are turned on and off,” said Helen Zeigler, director of USC business affairs. She also said the project’s focus is largely on wiring and light-bulb efficiency. Zeigler said students might not notice any changes. “These are things that we take care in designing in specifications to not make a noticeable difference.” Johnson Controls account executive Keith Byrom said more than 90 percent of the company’s recommendations were changes in technology but that engineers also logged the amount of time lights stayed on in certain buildings to make additional recommendations on how to conserve energy when buildings aren’t in use. “The university didn’t want to change the comfort conditions for students,” Byrom said. “We couldn’t do that. But we could put some new technology in there that would reduce the cost of keeping your lights on until eight at night.” One difference students and faculty might notice is the reduction in steam rising from more than 100 vaults along campus streets and sidewalks. Plans are underway to replace outdated, faulty pipes under several campus buildings, including Currell College, Davis College, McKissick Museum and Woodrow College. An underground tunnel network houses pipes that transport steam from the university’s three energy facilities to heat campus buildings. But the overhaul seeks to save money by improving pipes’ joints to lose less of the steam. The overhaul is one step in combating years of increasingly evident campus energy mishaps and budget problems stemming from rising costs. The last three years have brought weekend power outages in residence halls and a flood in the Jones Physical Science Center from a burst water chiller that caused class cancellations. At the same time, campus has expanded to include huge buildings like the Colonial Center and the Strom Thurmond Wellness & Fitness Center ♦ ENERGY, page 4 DEAN DIALOGUE NICK ESARES/THE GAMECOCK Dean Jamal Rossi of the School of Music plans to leave at the end of the year after accepting the academic affairs dean position at the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music in New York. Rossi says School of Music on path to financial security By TAYLOR SMITH STAFF WRITER USC School of Music Dean Jamal Rossi is leaving in three months, but his vision of the largest public music school in the state has not changed in his five years at the university. “When I came here, I just saw tremendous potential for the school to be a major school of music not just in the southeast, but in the whole country,” Rossi said. Rossi will leave the school to become dean of the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music in New York. Rossi said he has seen the school make significant strides toward his vision, so he said he feels he is leaving the school at a good point in its growth. “It already is a major player,” Rossi said in terms of comparing music schools. • DEAN, page 4 I IN THIS ISSUE ♦ THE MIX Preparing for St. Patrick’s Day Columbia will host a St. Patrick’s Day celebration in Five Points on Saturday. Several area bars have scheduled band performances to mark the occasion. ♦ SPORTS Baseball defeats Terriers on the road The Gamecock Sports staff’s Brian Saal breaks down Carolina's 6-2 come from behind win against Wofford in Spartanburg, despite only tallying five hits throughout the game. Page 9 Page 13 | -j.-.■».j.www.dailygamecock.com.—■<.—.■■■■■—....